Vail Daily letter: No explanation, no answer

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The tragedy that transpired in the Sandy Hook Elementary School is hard to fathom, comprehend or even rationalize. There are no reasonable or civilized explanations.

We should all simply step back, and honor those victims and their families by grieving with them in silence, and only if called upon, offer solace, empathy or a tear.

This is not a time for political photo ops and oratory. It's not a time for lobbyists to make political hay from an event so personal to some and a heartache to all. It is not a crisis for which a politician must avail himself to further his agenda or career.

This was the insane act of one deranged individual who possessed firearms for a use never conceived under the 2nd Amendment or within a parent's comprehension. Over 65,000,000 other well-armed and law-abiding Americans did not kill anyone that infamous day.

More than a crime, this was contrary to the laws of nature and God, for which retribution or calls for future prevention can never adequately address or procure amelioration. There will always be evil, acts of insanity and inconceivable tragic events.

As a parent, I cannot even imagine the grief and travails that the parents of those deceased children are enduring. I find no consolation with the myriad of legislative calls for more firearm restrictions or out-and-out banishment of weapons.

You do not disarm the parents, the siblings, the teachers, the veterans of foreign wars or law-abiding citizens of any stripe to prevent these events in the future. Rather, we must recognize that there will always be the criminal, the deluded, the insane or the opportunist among us,and they will always be well-armed to accomplish their devious ends.

One who would commit murder or another heinous crime will not be deterred by a law that merely bans the possession of a firearm. That would be of no consequence.

I therefore find the publication and political sensationalizing of a parent's grief in the matter crass, reprehensible, repugnant and at the very least, distasteful.

Perhaps it is now a time for true journalism to report only the news, and leave the commentaries, the editorials, the political statements and calls to action for later use by the politicians, opportunists and other gainsayers.

For now, our prayers, our sympathies and silent grief should be enough for those left behind by their departing children or loved one.